“Look at any street across Dhanbad and you will only find muck and filth everywhere. Heaps of garbage often choke roads and slow down traffic during peak hours,” said a councillor, not willing to be named.

Notably, the situation started deteriorating after the exit of A2Z Waste Management Private Limited in January.

The coal capital is divided into five circles — Dhanbad, Sindri, Chatrabad, Jharia and Katras. Of them, DMC looks after Dhanbad, Sindri and Chatrabad.

For Jharia and Katras, the civic body had sought temporary help from Mineral Area Development Authority (Mada) to carry out sanitation after the solid waste management firm’s services was terminated early this year.

During its last board meeting in January, the DMC had given permission to all 55 councillors to hire five labourers each in their respective wards for two months to carry out cleanliness work until fresh arrangements were made.

However, with the model code of conduct coming into effect from March for the Lok Sabha polls, the DMC could not hold more board meetings.